


The Trouble with Magic

by ali_aliska



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And Gets a Female Body for a Day, Bucky Gets Hit with Magic, But mostly fluff, Established Relationship, Genderbending, M/M, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Slight Panic Ensues, Then Some Kissing, Tony and Bucky are Already Together, Tony hates magic, Very Brief Appearance by Steve, slight angst, temporary genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 03:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11119095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ali_aliska/pseuds/ali_aliska
Summary: Magic is the absolute worst, according to Tony, especially when it turns his boyfriend into a (gorgeous) woman for a day, and now said boyfriend is refusing to come out of his room. Steve's amusement at the whole thing is not helping.





	The Trouble with Magic

**Author's Note:**

> Set in some wonderful, happy AU where Civil War never happened, everyone acted like an adult, Steve told Tony about his parents, Tony helped him rescue Bucky, and then Tony and Bucky fell in love and lived happily ever after (I can dream). 
> 
> Mostly just Tony/Bucky fluff. First time writing in this fandom, so I'm still trying to get the hang of everyone's voices. 
> 
> Written for a personal writing challenge for "Bucky" and "Genderswap" prompts.

“I hate magic,” Tony muttered as he rubbed the pressure point between his eyebrows. The inevitable headache he got every time they had to deal with magical powers (usually wielded by an absolute idiot) was already rearing its ugly head.

Steve, who was sitting across from him at the table on the tower patio, gave him an understanding smile.

“Well, at least no one really got hurt this time,” Steve said, trying to placate some of Tony’s anger. The other man’s glare assured him it wasn’t working.

“Tell that to James, who’s been hiding in his room ever since he got here, after just taking off from the battle on his own.” 

Steve’s smile grew a little wider. “Well…” he drew the word out, “he’s not _technically_ hurt.” 

Tony’s glare turned murderous. “Steve, that’s not the point! That amateur, Loki-wannabe, he— he turned James into— into a _woman_!”

The combination of Tony practically hissing the word out like a curse and the distressed expression on his face finally broke Steve’s remaining resolve and he started to chuckle, holding his fist to his mouth in an attempt to stifle at least some of his mirth.

“This isn’t funny, Rogers,” Tony snapped at his laughing (idiot) best friend, but some of his initial anger deflated. His brain was slowly catching up to how ridiculous their current situation was.

His laughter mostly under control, Steve shook his head fondly. “It’s a little bit funny, Tony. Honestly, this is probably one of our better missions, damage-wise. No one was really hurt, the criminal is in custody, and you heard what Strange said! The curse that hit Bucky is temporary. He should be back to his normal self within a day or two.” Seeing Tony’s unconvinced face, he continued, “Now, go do what you always do, Tony. You fix things, so go talk to your stubborn boyfriend and fix this situation. He’s probably just embarrassed and needs you to set him straight.”

Nodding slowly, Tony sighed and got out of his chair. “Yeah, you’re right.” He looked in the direction of the living quarters, closed his eyes, and took another deep breath. As he breathed out, he turned back to Steve and unapologetically declared “I still fucking hate magic.” 

Steve shook his head fondly as he watched Tony stomp away and wondered how he ended up with two of the most stubborn people alive as his best friends.

***

The door to Bucky’s room was locked, as it had been ever since they came back from apprehending Loki-wannabe #5. Honestly, these second rate magicians made Tony actually _miss_ Loki, which in turn made him hate magic even more. At least Loki, the damn prima donna, had some style.

Shaking his head to stop the mental tirade against magic, Tony gathered his courage and knocked on the door. 

“James? Open up. It’s your ever-loving boyfriend. …Again.”

After a few seconds of silence, Tony rolled his eyes. “Seriously, babe, you’re being a bit of a drama queen with this whole thing. And being a drama queen is usually my job. Just please open the door and let me in.”

The next few seconds of silence gave Tony the chance to contemplate whether it was really a good idea to call his currently very female boyfriend a drama _queen,_ but before he had too much time to come up with a better term, Tony heard the door unlock. Taking that as his invitation, he let himself inside.

Bucky’s room was in its usual state of neatly arranged and overbearing warm (but that was okay, because Tony liked it on the warmer side too, especially on the nights when he was haunted by the cold void of space). His boyfriend was currently sitting on the bed, with his back facing Tony.

Even from this angle, Tony could see the physical changes caused by the magic spell. Bucky was definitely smaller, with most of his Winter Soldier muscle mass replaced with leaner limbs and narrower shoulders. Five or six inches of his imposing height disappeared. Tony had no idea how exactly it worked, but even Bucky’s metal arm adjusted to match his currently female body, slimming down in size. Tony only gave a moment’s thought to his ever-growing hate for magic and its nonsensical, logic- and physics-defying shenanigans.

He cleared his throat, possibly to get the other man’s attention, or may be to give himself time to come up with the appropriate words, but he finally settled on “Thanks for letting me in. Heh, we were getting a little worried about you stuck in here by yourself.” 

The levity of the words fell flat when Bucky didn’t say anything back. His only response was the tensing of his already hunched shoulder. Between his smaller stature and defeated posture, the man seemed to be trying to shrink out of existence.

Tony rubbed the back of his head, feeling awkward and downright lost. Yeah, he thought, the whole situation was awkward and being a different gender for a day was probably a hell of a bizarre experience, but Bucky’s reaction seemed overblown, even by Tony’s drama queen standards.

“James, come on, talk to me,” Tony tried again. “I know this stupid curse thing is a pain, but it can’t be that bad. And we talked to Strange, he assured us the magic is going to reverse itself in a few days. So, everything’s gonna be fine…”

Tony’s rambling petered out as a sudden realization dawned on him. “Oh god, babe? Are you actually hurt? I thought you were fine after the mission, but shit, did we miss something?” His sudden spike of worry carried him across the room towards his boyfriend, but a shake of Bucky’s head, the first actual response Tony got thus far, stopped him short.

“No, no… I’m not hurt. I’m fine…” The words were just above a whisper, quiet and so different from Bucky’s usual deep, rumbling tone. Tony’s heart lurched in his chest, both happy to finally hear Bucky and frustrated that Bucky wasn’t truly himself for the time being.

After a beat of silence, Bucky took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, then finally turned around, facing Tony for the first time since he practically ran from the scene of the battle.

Tony’s first thought was _God, he’s still fucking gorgeous as a woman._ His second thought was reprimanding himself for thinking with his dick while his boyfriend was obviously distressed.

Despite the mental reprimand, there was no denying that James Barnes made a beautiful woman. His hair, still the same dark color, but a little bit longer, framed a thinner, heart-shaped face. A button nose, full pink lips and god, eyelashes that went on for miles. Tony slowly walked over and sat next to him on the bed, taking in the details of his lover’s new face. Despite the startling beauty that drew Tony’s initial attention, it was obvious on the second pass that Bucky was exhausted. 

Reaching out cautiously, as if Bucky was a small, easily startled animal, Tony gently took his hand. There was that momentarily feeling of being off balance again, as the small, slender hand fitted so differently into his own.

“You don’t look fine, James. …Well, ok, you kind of do, because damn, you make one gorgeous woman, but come on, babe…” Tony tried to curtail his ramblings, which were his go-to defense mechanism when he felt out-of-depth. “Can you tell me what’s wrong? Is it just the spell? Is switching genders really that bad? Probably embarrassing, I get it, but we’ve been hit with worse before, right?”

Bucky shook his head again and raised his eyes to look into Tony’s.

_God, his eyes are still the same. Those are the same eyes I fell in love with._

“It’s not the being a woman part that’s bothering me… It’s weird, sure, but I ain’t feeling any pain or anything… Mostly just disoriented and not used to being this size…” Bucky paused, glancing down at his smaller hand wrapped in Tony’s bigger one. “And I ain’t ashamed either. Nothing wrong with being a gal…”

Tony nodded in understanding and squeezed Bucky’s hand for extra reassurance. “Totally reasonable. But then, if you’re not hurt and it’s not the gender swap part that’s freaking you out, why have you been hiding out here by yourself?”

The expression in Bucky’s eyes was a mixture of both exhaustion and chagrin.

“I— I freaked out, Tony… That spell, when it hit me… It forced my body to change, to transform into something else and all I could feel was panic because— because I felt like I was back in that Hydra compound, with Hydra rooting around in my brain, using and changing my body, bending it to their own will…  Everything was out of control again and I just panicked… I’m sorry, Tony…”

_Oh god…_

As Bucky finished, looking down again at their joined hands while gently caressing Tony’s hand with his thumb, Tony remained staring. He felt his blood drain out of his face and a sense of nausea creep in.

_Oh god, I’m a fucking idiot… How could I not realize?_

It seemed so obvious now. James, who was used and manipulated by Hydra both physically and mentally for decades… James, whose body was mutilated and augmented with foreign hunks of metal.. James, who was forced to watch his own body commit one atrocity after another. His dear, brave James, who struggled for months after being rescued to overcome the brainwashing triggers implanted into his brain, who slowly, but with utmost stubbornness, regained control of both his body and his mind.

Of course Bucky would panic when once again, his body was changed against his will and he was unable to do anything but suffer through the transformation.

Tony felt like a complete tool for not realizing any of this sooner. God, what kind of boyfriend was he, that he had to have it spelled out for him?

“Fuck, babe, don’t apologize. You don’t have anything to be sorry for. Shit, I’m the one who should be sorry. I just— I didn’t realize that this thing would hit you so hard… but I should’ve! I should’ve known and been more sensitive and—”

Bucky cut Tony’s rambling short by squeezing their hands and giving Tony a small, but genuine smile.

“It’s okay…” he said, turning his whole body a bit to face Tony more fully. “I probably did overreact just a bit.” 

Tony started shaking his head to disagree, but Bucky continued “I did, really. I should’ve let you in sooner, instead of sitting here sulking with nothin’ but my panic for company. Havin’ you here… it makes the whole thing a little less surreal and out of control… helps me feel more grounded. I’m feeling okay… better.”

Seeing Bucky relax a little bit more as his tense body uncoiled itself bit by bit next to him, Tony chuckled. “It is a bit surreal though, I’m not gonna lie. We’ve seen some crazy things lately, but gender-changing spells? That’s a new one.” 

Bucky’s smile grew a little bit wider. “It certainly is strange. Being in a gal’s body, it’s— not what I expected. What, uh— what do you think about it, Tony?” The small glint in Bucky’s eyes told Tony what the expected response was.

“You make one hell of a woman, babe,” Tony answered and gave Bucky his patented panty-dropping smirk and an exaggerated wink. That combo almost always worked on regular Bucky, mostly by producing an indulgent smile and making the man blush, so Tony assumed the same still applied to his female counterpart. 

True to form, Bucky huffed a laugh despite himself and Tony could see the tell-tale signs of a blush working across his cheeks. 

“I’m serious though, babe, you’re hot in any and all forms.” Tony paused and his smirk turned mischievous. “Hey, now that you’re a girl, does that mean I’m the one who gets to call you ‘doll’?”

“You’ll always be _my_ doll, Tony,” Bucky’s response was predictable, but Tony’s comment was made precisely to further lighten up the mood of the conversation and chase away the remnants of Bucky’s panic. 

Unable to help themselves in that moment, Tony’s eyes drifted down and appreciatively observed Bucky’s current form, which didn’t go unnoticed by the other man.  

“Like what you see, _doll_?” 

It was Tony’s turn to blush. Of course he liked what he saw. Just because he was exclusively with Bucky and he was completely and undeniably attracted to his male body, didn’t stop him from still being able to appreciate the female form. Especially, when it was still his actual boyfriend he was trying not to ogle.

His higher brain functions kicked in a moment later and he pulled his gaze back up to Bucky’s eyes. “I definitely do, but hell, I shouldn’t be sitting here, ogling you. This experience was shitty enough as it is for you, I shouldn’t be making you more uncomfortable.”

Bucky contemplated those words for a second, but then tentatively raised his free hand and brushed it across Tony’s face, who instinctively turned into the touch. 

“You’re not makin’ me uncomfortable, love. I’m okay. And I have been wondering…” Here, Bucky bit his lip and paused, and Tony couldn’t help but swallow hard at the gorgeous sight in front of him. Somehow, the gesture seemed even more seductive with Bucky’s currently full, pink lips. 

“Been wondering what?” Tony prompted.

“What it’d feel like… you know, as a gal.” Bucky was definitely blushing now, but he kept his gaze locked on Tony’s.

Most of Tony’s blood did not rush south at the sound of those words, absolutely not. He took a deep breath.

“Are you sure? I mean, I’m— uh—” he swallowed hard again. “I’m absolutely on board, trust me, but I don’t want to hurt you or make this whole thing worse somehow… I’m usually pretty good at making things worse without even trying, we all know that, and hell, you panicked and I didn’t even realize why until just now, and—”

Tony had to stop talking because within a span of a few seconds, he ended up on his back on the bed, with a very female Bucky Barnes on top of him, holding both of Tony’s arms down next to his head.

“Okay, wow, so apparently you’re still super strong,” was the only thing Tony was able to blurt out, otherwise distracted by the gorgeous sight in front of him. Bucky’s smirk turned down right seductive and yeah, okay, _all_ of Tony’s blood was now rushing south. 

“Strange said we had a day or two, did he?”

“Yeah…” Tony couldn’t take his eyes off Bucky’s lips, which neared closer to his own. Bucky’s next words were whispered right against Tony’s own slightly parted lips.

“Well then, I say we should spend those days wisely. I don’t want to panic again, so best course of action is to distract me by… doing… this…”

Tony’s first thought was that Bucky’s lips were just as soft as they looked. He moaned as Bucky’s hand found its way into his hair and his body settled fully against his.

Despite wanting to be focused on nothing else but the kiss, Tony’s mind couldn’t help but catalog all the differences in how this felt. The kiss was softer and there was no familiar scratch from Bucky’s five o’clock shadow. The body pressed on top of his was smaller and lighter, and he could feel supple breasts pressed against his own chest. The weight didn’t feel right, but god, he still smelled and tasted like Bucky, so Tony forced himself to stop comparing and focused on the amazing kiss instead. 

When the need for air couldn’t be ignored any longer, Bucky pulled away. His eyes roamed across Tony’s face as his thumb was still gently caressing his lover’s cheek. 

Tony needed a moment to catch his breath. “Was— uh— was that okay?” he finally breathed out, still trying to recover from the kiss. Bucky seemed relaxed now, but he wanted to make sure that nothing triggered that fear and panic again.

The other man nodded and tucked some of his now longer hair behind his ear. “Yeah, that felt— it felt good. _Different_ , but good. …Should I continue?” he asked with a smirk and all Tony could do was exhale a “God, yes, please…” and Bucky’s lips descended on his again.

With both of his hands now free, Tony caressed the slender body above him and rested them on the small waist, pressing all of Bucky closer to him. Every inch of him felt amazing against him and Tony had to admit to himself that he did miss the female form. However, this was absolutely not the moment to discuss something like that. Instead, he pulled away a bit, just enough to get some space between them and whispered “I love you, doesn’t matter what,” never looking away from Bucky’s eyes, those same gorgeous eyes.

His words earned him a smile and similarly whispered “I love you too, doll.” Bucky didn’t waste anymore time than that before kissing Tony again, this time with even more vigor. As his boyfriend’s hand caressed his chest and then trailed further down, eliciting another moan from Tony, Tony’s only remaining coherent thought was that may be magic wasn’t the most awful thing in the world after all…


End file.
